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Clippers vie to snap funk against Mavs

Feb 9, 2015 - 3:12 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers are in disarray and won't have long to snap out of it when they visit American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks Monday night.

The Clippers have lost four straight and five of their last six. This road trip has been a disaster thus far as the Clips are 2-5, but mercifully, this sojourn ends Monday.

During this odyssey, Chris Paul made derogatory comments about female official Lauren Holtkamp. Paul was fined $25,000 for his words, but the bigger issue came on the court.

Fellow All-Star Blake Griffin will be out at least through the All-Star break after surgery to remove a staph infection in his right elbow. He will be re- evaluated after the break.

The skid reached four games on Sunday thanks to a 131-108 pasting at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was the most points allowed this season by LA and during this slide, the Clippers have surrendered an average of 115.25 points.

The Clippers already thin frontcourt took another hit when Glen Davis exited for good in the second quarter with upper back spasms, and the result was the Thunder owning a clear advantage down low to the tune of a 54-29 edge on the glass.

"We're depleted right now, but no one feels sorry for us. I don't feel sorry for us," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. We just have to figure it out."

J.J. Redick missed another game with back spasms.

Jamal Crawford netted 21 points, Paul added 18 points and 13 assists, and Spencer Hawes scored all 17 of his points in the first half of LA's third straight double-digit loss.

The Mavericks have won two straight and five of their last six with the only setback coming at Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Dallas prevailed in overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-101.

Dirk Nowitzki hit a game-tying 3-pointer near the end of regulation and Chandler Parsons scored 10 points in overtime to lead the Mavericks.

Nowitzki had 25 points, none more important that his straightaway 3 over two Blazers defenders with 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

After Portland's Damian Lillard held for a 3-pointer he missed at the buzzer, Parsons opened overtime with two free throws to give the Mavericks their first lead since the second quarter and they never trailed again.

Nowitzki added a jumper, Monta Ellis knocked down a 3 and Parsons scored on a layup to cap a 9-0 run that made it 105-96.

Ellis finished with 20 points, Devin Harris scored 16 off the bench and Tyson Chandler added 11 points and 13 rebounds in Dallas' triumph.

The Mavericks finished the game on a 28-7 run beginning with around two minutes remaining in regulation.

"We just kept playing," said Dallas forward Al-Farouq Aminu. "We struggled all season playing a full 48-minute game. We'll play a really great first half and then have a letdown and today we just kept playing throughout the entire game. We didn't take the foot off the pedal; we kept playing even when things didn't go our way and something positive happened."

Point guard Rajon Rondo is still out of the lineup with facial fractures. Surgery has not yet been ruled out for the former All-Star, who will be out through the All-Star break.

The Clippers won this season's only meeting, a 20-point blowout in Los Angeles on Jan. 10. The two teams will meet in Dallas again on March 13 and the Clippers have won two straight in Big D.